People v. Nelson CA2/7

INTRODUCTION

A jury convicted James Nelson of attempted voluntary manslaughter, as a lesser included offense of attempted murder. There was some evidence the jurors briefly discussed the fact that Nelson did not testify at trial in his defense. We conclude that the trial court did not err in denying Nelson’s motion for a new trial because the admissible evidence of jury misconduct was not prejudicial. Therefore, we affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND1

A. Michelle Barnes and Her Children Michelle Barnes has three children, all of whom were detained by the juvenile court in 2008. Her oldest child, J., was placed with Ester Nelson, who lives in a house in Compton, and whose brother is the father of one of Barnes’s other children. Ester Nelson is thus the aunt of one of Barnes’s children, but not J. J. sometimes plays at the house of a next-door neighbor, Christina Valencia, with her son. In 2008 and 2009, Barnes had monitored visits with J., usually at a fast-food restaurant. These visits were sometimes monitored by Ester Nelson, and sometimes by social workers or others. Barnes also had monitored (by Ester Nelson) telephone conversations with J. Whether Barnes could…